In 1994, when my younger daughter was six years old, I saw firsthand that the commercialized media was impacting the environments of and affecting the attention of children her age. One example was when, at a Power Rangers birthday party for a classmate, the favors were only given if a child could answer questions about the different Rangers. My daughter was in tears since she didn’t know the answers, and the birthday girl, who was wearing a ballet tutu looked sad as if wondering “What does this have to do with me?”

I heard a call to action and started Ariadne’s Thread, a children’s center with early childcare during the day and after-school classes in Theater, Hip-Hop, and various arts.

Why “Ariadne’s Thread?”

“In the myth of Ariadne and Theseus, Ariadne. who loves Theseus, gives him the thread that will lead him back out of the maze once he has killed the Minotaur. That thread can symbolize attention: the faculty we all need to live our lives to the fullest: not just to “pay attention,” though focus is important, but to be attentive. To notice, to be with ourselves to hear the unique vibrations that could guide our own lives.

Pivotal experiences with those young children led me to do graduate work focusing on Family Media Literacy and to found Healthy Media Choices. That study was informed primarily by Media Ecology, an approach brought by Neil Postman,  and Narrative Psychology.

Almost 30 years later, the maze is still the logo and the work still centers on attention and young children.

Our attention is sunshine to young children and helps them develop their own. The question is: how can time be found in the crazy-busy lives of families for nurturing close relationships, resiliency, and attention?

There’s a constellation of influences on the lives of young children. Having been born into the “Attention Economy,” we need to understand that media are environments that affect us and young children just like going into a different room or town would. Technology and the way we use its tools shape us. 

We offer a process that enables a step back, focus on goals, and ask: “What makes life sweet?” then strategies for customized solutions for each unique household, extended and/or blended family.